OBSERVED: My sighting happened while camping a mile into the woods where several reports were told to me in southeastern Indiana. I saw the creature from behind and the side while it was squating down and eating our food that we had tied up in a tree, about 12 to 15 feet up. The night was a very clear, hot summer night, with a 3/4 full moon. The encounter started with hearing vocalizations from off in the distance that moved closer to our camp sight. The woods were dark and the only visuals we had were from the light of our fire. we could hear heavy foot falls the closer the creature got to us and we heard splashing as it rounded a pond that was at the bottom of the trail, down the hill from us. With this, the five of us freaked and ran into our tent to hide. We could hear branches breaking along the path from the pond as the heavy foot falls got closer. With that we heard a loud SNAP which we belive was the branch breaking where our food was tied up. The pillow case it was in was shreaded and we heard the unmistakeable sound of plastic bags being ripped apart and crunching as it ate our chips and doritos. I heard the sound of what I can only describe as an aluminum can being torn apart. With that, my curiousity got the best of me and I raised up from my kneeling position to peek out the tent window. About ten feet away from the tent, this huge dark hairy creature was squatting licking out my can of bean dip. When it had finished, it casually tossed it into the weeds, poked through the remains of the chips, stood up and walked on up the trail, over the hill. i would estimated this thing to be about seven to eight foot tall, very muscullar build, large powerful thighs and arms, covered in dark brown/black hair. It's head was set into it's shoulder muscles kind of like a gorilla. Also, it had a gamey smell to it, kind of like a really dirty, wet dog. At dawn we investigated the area and found the bean dip can just torn open. The branch that held our food had been pulled down and the pillow case was in shreds. As we packed up to leave, some guys came down from the top of the hill where they had been staying in an old cabin. They asked us if we had been messing around their sight because all of their gear and food had been raided in the night. We told them the same thing hit us earlier in the night. With that, we packed up and left post haste.

ALSO NOTICED: Just the amount of vocalizing it did as i got closer. Almost like it knew we were there and it was warning us.

OTHER WITNESSES: There five of us that night, only I will talk about.

OTHER STORIES: Yes, coon hunters has seen it.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: midnight, 3/4 moon clear night sky, warm weather

ENVIRONMENT: In a small valley just up hill from a small pond between two heavily forested hills.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Eric Lester:

This report is interesting in the fact that the creature boldly came into camp without seeming to care how much noise it made in the process. This can add a sense of disbelief, but after speaking with the witness at length on the phone, I find him to be sincere about his experience. He was very grateful to share his encounter with a fellow believer.

This area is only generally known by the witness. He had followed his friend to this location, and only knows it was off Route 1, near Manchester. His friend's cousin had lived in this area, and told of sightings of sasquatch in this spot; he seemed to know it would take food. There is also a story told of coon hunters seeing a possible sasquatch in the area. According to the story, a coon hunter had his dogs chasing a coon, and the dogs turned around and ran past the guys and took off...the hunters saw something standing in the middle of trail, and they took off after the dogs. The witness and his friends were all interested in these stories, with the TV show In Search of... spurring some interest.

The initial vocalizations are described as a scream/howl, giving an impression that the creature wanted them out of the area. The howls started roughly a half-mile away on a wooded hill opposite the pond below their camp, moving closer every time, and occurring every 15-20 minutes. When the campers heard footfalls on the trail near their camp, they 'freaked out' and headed into their tent. Soon thereafter the creature entered their camp.

When he looked at the creature it was about 10 ft. away, with the fire about 5 ft. to its left. The creature was there for 5-10 minutes, and he watched it for about a minute in the light illuminating from the campfire. The creature was in a catcher's squat with its back to the tent. When it stood up you could see the muscles move and it had very broad shoulders. The wet odor he described was easily noticed from the tent. After it walked off, the friends sat there in stunned silence and didn't say much about it, eventually falling asleep. No one left the tent that night, and the witness was the only one to look at the creature. No other details were noticed other than the hair being described as a few inches long and very dark in color, almost black.

This witness decided to make his report public, knowing there are others out there that have had encounters. He has lost touch with his friends that were with him that night.

About BFRO Investigator Eric Lester:

Eric Lester is a medical professional and has been investigating possible Sasquatch sightings since 2004. BFRO expeditions include: